---
title: Introduction
description: FileRelay is the universal SAP document routing platform. ArchiveLink, CMIS, and OData in; cloud storage, DMS, APIs, and 16+ destinations out. On-prem only, three operating models.
---

FileRelay is the universal SAP document routing platform. It receives documents from every commercial SAP edition — ECC, S/4HANA on-premise, S/4HANA Cloud Private (RISE), and S/4HANA Cloud Public — through three SAP-published ingest protocols, then forwards those documents to whichever destination you choose: cloud storage, document management systems, file servers, APIs, email, or messaging platforms.

> **On-prem only.** FileRelay is not a public multi-tenant SaaS. Every deployment runs inside your perimeter — your cluster, your cloud account, or a dedicated single-tenant environment we operate for you. Documents never traverse a shared web service.

## What FileRelay does

FileRelay normalises documents arriving from three different SAP-side protocols and re-delivers them to a single, common set of destinations. No ABAP development, no transports, no custom BAdIs.

| Source protocol | What it is | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| **[ArchiveLink](/docs/sources/archivelink)** | SAP BC-HCS 4.5 HTTP Content Server interface. SAP **pushes** documents. | ECC 6.0, S/4HANA on-premise, S/4HANA Cloud Private (RISE). |
| **[CMIS](/docs/sources/cmis)** | CMIS 1.1 client against SAP Document Management Service. FileRelay **pulls**. | S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (the only public-cloud option), and Private/RISE as an alternative. |
| **[OData](/docs/sources/odata)** | Released S/4HANA OData APIs (e.g. `I_AttachmentForBusinessObject`) with optional Event Mesh push. | S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and Private/RISE. |

Not sure which protocol you need? See the [protocol comparison](/docs/sources/protocol-comparison) — a decision matrix covering every SAP edition.

## Key concepts

- **Workspaces** — isolate different SAP systems or environments (dev, staging, production)
- **Sources (Repositories)** — entry points for documents (ArchiveLink Content Repositories, CMIS endpoints, OData services)
- **Destinations (Connectors)** — where documents get forwarded (S3, SharePoint, email, etc.)
- **Connections (Pipelines)** — wire sources to destinations with routing rules

## Supported destinations

FileRelay supports 16+ destinations out of the box. The same destination list applies regardless of which SAP source protocol you use:

| Category | Destinations |
|----------|-------------|
| **Object Storage** | Amazon S3, Azure Blob, Google Cloud Storage, Cloudflare R2, MinIO |
| **Cloud Storage** | Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box |
| **Enterprise DMS** | SharePoint |
| **File transfer & APIs** | SFTP/FTP, Network Share (SMB/CIFS), HTTP/Webhooks, Email |
| **Messaging** | Slack, Microsoft Teams |

## Operating models

Same product, three operating models — pick the one that matches your control vs ops trade-off. Every model deploys inside your perimeter; documents never leave your network.

| Model | Hosted by | Best for | Time to deploy |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Self-hosted** | You | Teams with an existing ops capability who want **most control** — Helm chart or Docker Compose, your cluster (OpenShift, EKS, AKS, GKE, bare metal). Air-gapped supported, customer-managed secrets (Vault, KMS). | 1–2 weeks |
| **Managed on-prem** | We operate, inside your cloud account/VPC | Teams that need **data residency without running it themselves** — we deploy and operate FileRelay in your subscription, with 24/7 monitoring, SLA, and zero-touch upgrades. Dedicated tenant. | 2–5 days |
| **FileRelay-hosted** | We host on dedicated single-tenant infrastructure built for you | Teams that want the on-prem isolation story **without provisioning any infra** — same product as self-hosted, we run deployment, ops, and upgrades. | 1–3 days |

Pricing is quoted per deployment on a short call, based on operating model, number of SAP systems, and document volume. Pilots are free. [Contact us](mailto:contact@filerelay.io) to start.

## Who FileRelay is for

- **SAP Basis administrators** who want to route ArchiveLink, CMIS, or OData documents to cloud storage without ABAP development
- **Enterprise architects** migrating from SAP Content Server, OpenText, or SAP BTP DMS to modern cloud destinations
- **Developers** who want to receive SAP documents via REST API or webhooks without learning ArchiveLink, CMIS, or OData
- **RISE and S/4HANA Cloud teams** that need a documented, SAP-released-API path off the Document Management Service
- **IT teams** managing multi-destination document routing across SAP landscapes

## Getting started

There's no public sign-up. To run FileRelay you start with a short scoping call that picks an operating model and provisions your deployment. From the first sign-in onward the dashboard, protocols, and destinations are identical across all three models.

- **Start an evaluation** — [contact us](mailto:contact@filerelay.io) for a free pilot in the operating model that fits you best.
- Once your deployment is live, your first workspace is created the first time you sign in.

## Next steps

- [Quick start](/docs/quickstart) — get a document flowing in under 5 minutes
- [How FileRelay works](/docs/architecture) — architecture, protocols, deployment shapes
- [Workspaces overview](/docs/workspaces/overview) — the unit of isolation for your SAP systems
- [Protocol comparison](/docs/sources/protocol-comparison) — pick the right ingest protocol for your SAP edition
- [Connectors overview](/docs/connectors/overview) — see every supported destination